


Labyrinthine (On Temporary Hiatus Until March)

by AutumnalStardust



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Eater Harry Potter, Interrogation, M/M, Secret Identity, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-12-23 21:48:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnalStardust/pseuds/AutumnalStardust
Summary: In the pseudo cross station of the afterlife, Harry boards a train and finds himself in 1979, nineteen years earlier, at the height of Voldemort's power. Harry decides to join the death eaters and change the future by preventing Voldemort from going after his parents, but time has a way of catching up and fate doesn't appreciate her plans being derailed. Can Harry really change the future, or is it an exercise in futility?





	Labyrinthine (On Temporary Hiatus Until March)

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** All rights to the Harry Potter series go to J. K. Rowling and such.
> 
> **Warnings:** Graphic violence, blood, and torture scenes. Mildly explicit sex scenes. Minor but Graphic Character Death. War Violence. Temporary major character deaths
> 
> Posting this before I lose wifi until March. I wanted to write more, but if I don't post now I'll lose it so... Happy reading!
> 
> **Affectionately, Crowley.**

_The realization of what would happen next settled gradually over Harry in the long minutes, like softly falling snow. "I’ve got to go back, haven’t I?"_

_"That is up to you."_

_"I’ve got a choice?"_

_"Oh yes." Dumbledore smiled at him. "We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to ... let’s say ... board a train."_

_"And where would it take me?"_

_"On," said Dumbledore simply._

** _\- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty-Five, King's Cross_ **

he train ran in an endless circle. It never stopped, but passengers came and went. Harry wasn't sure how long he had been riding the train, it had felt like an eternity and yet only a few seconds. There were no clocks for him to consult, and he lacked anything to do to help pass the time. Years passed in seconds, days in moments, a millenia in a blink. He had expected peace, boarding the train from that endlessly white station, yet here there was nothing.

There was a movement to his left and Harry looked up as someone sat down beside him. The conductor, he realised. He was dressed in all black clothes, neither tall nor short, not fat and not thin. His skin was a lovely shade of olive but paired with the non-descript brown of his hair even his skin appeared unnaturally ordinary. He was young, no older than Harry himself, but there was something about him that seemed ancient and timeless. Hie eyes were black, no whites or color, just black.

"Are you ready then?" the conductor asked. His voice was all at once quiet and loud, ancient and young, a thousand voices in his head echoing around his conscious and one speaking in a calm voice outside his head.

"Ready?" Harry asked, but as he did so he realized the train felt like it was slowing. He hesitated but nodded after a long silent moment. "I guess I must be."

The train drew to a full stop and the door nearest to him opened. Beyond the door was nothing but darkness, a void eerily like the conductor's eyes. The conductor stood and directed him to the door, standing by the open door as Harry hesitated to step out into the darkness.

"Where will it take me?" He asked quietly.

"Where you need to be." The conductor stated simply in that strange fathomless voice of his.

Harry nodded and stepped out into the void.

**~◇~**

Harry was lying in a slightly awkward position on a soft surface. The scent of medicine filled his nose. Every inch of his body ached, and above his heart where the Killing Curse had hit him felt bruised and tender. In the distance, he heard voices but not enough to make them out. He lied there, motionless, listening, and then he peered out from one eye. Immediately he shut his eye and hissed as he involentarilly brought his arm up in an aborted motion to cover his eyes.

Footsteps growing ever nearer then coming to a halt. From his bedside a familiar voice asked, "You're awake?" His eyes flew open. Sure enough, Dumbledore stood by his bedside. "May I ask your name?"

Harry realized there really was only one explanation. Time travel. He had traveled through time. It hadn't been his intention to travel in time when he boarded the train, nor when he stepped into the void. Where he needs to be? Harry did not know what the conductor meant by that and wondered if that strange being had even known.

"Young man?" Dumbledore looked concerned and Harry forced himself to concentrate.

"Sorry," he answered in a slightly hoarse voice, "What was the question?"

Dumbledore repeated himself and Harry opened then closed his mouth. Did he tell Dumbledore about everything or lie? Dumbledore clearly did not recognize him after all.

He opened his mouth again and the words came out as if someone else was speaking for him. "Hadrian, Headmaster, Hadrian Ophichius Pyrites." He said. "Forgive me, I realise I'm only an average student, and I tend to stick to myself, but shouldn't you know who I am?"

Dumbledore gave him a contemplative and surprised sort of look. "You are a student here?"

"Seventh year." He confirmed. "I'm a Ravenclaw."

Dumbledore frowned then summoned a student to fetch McGonagall with the school records. "Is there any reason you can think of why no one seemed to recognize you?"

Harry shrugged. "The last thing I remember, I was working on my charms homework."

Silence reigned for the next few minutes until Professor McGonagall arrived. Dumbledore calmly explained the situation to her and then together they looked through the book. Harry held his breath. 

"Oh, there you are." Dumbledore pointed to his name and Harry looked into the book to see the same grades as he'd had.

The picture beside his information was not his own. Paler skin, sharper cheekbones, thinner face. He had no glasses and his eyes were dark teal. His hair was dark brown. Harry resisted the urge to ask for a mirror or touch his face to confirm he was the boy smiling in the photo.

"Is there any way to fix what happened to me?" He asked instead.

"Unfortunately not." Dumbledore responded. "I'm afraid you'll just have to reintroduce yourself to your friends." Harry nodded, bowing his head as if he were upset. "Get some rest, dear boy. I'll explain the situation to the students at dinner. You can join the students for breakfast tomorrow."

And that was that.

Upon rejoining the student body, Harry did not go to seek out his friends, not just because he had none. Had anyone asked, Harry would have claimed it was because he didn't see the point in befriending anyone who would never be sure if they'd ever been friends, but no one ever asked. As it stood, Harry simply had no desire to befriend anyone in 1979. Harry had a mission, a reason to be here, and Hogwarts barely factored in. It was nothing more than a convenient way to cement an identity.

For seventy-three days Harry went to class, spent all his free time in the library or down by the lake, and kept strictly to himself. For seventy-three days he listened as others whispered behind his back about how aloof he was. For seventy-three days Harry simply existed in the past, plotting, and then he graduated.

Harry had determined, shortly after he arrived, the best way to go about changing the future would be to join Voldemort and somehow convince him the prophecy was fake. But as he boarded the Hogwarts Express, he had no clue how to get into the Death Eaters, no one to put in a good word for him, and no one to even tell him how to get in contact with the dark lord.

Still, Harry was determined.

~◇~


End file.
